


Long Time Coming

by HybridOwl



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Follows Canon mostly, Gratuitous Russian, M/M, POV Bones, SPOILERS FOR BEYOND, bones needs to get out of his own head yo, slowish burn, unrequited love (sort of)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-29
Updated: 2017-03-29
Packaged: 2018-10-12 17:00:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10495494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HybridOwl/pseuds/HybridOwl
Summary: McCoy and Chekov's relationship evolves as their time on the ship continues.





	

**Author's Note:**

> So hahaha wrote this all in one go, forgot to sleep, whoops. no beta. sorry to those following me for The Beat That My Heart Skipped; I'm working on it, I swear.

The last thing Leonard wants to hear when he comes into sickbay is the sound of someone crying. Not just any old crying either; it was the sound of someone, male, doing their best to cry as quietly and unobtrusively as possible, little hiccups of breath in the silence of the mostly empty ship.

 

Nobody should be here. Hell, Leonard shouldn't really be here; the ship docked a couple hours ago, all the patients got moved to Starfleet hospital, the crew met with a heroes welcome after defeating Nero. Leonard had just... not left. He had seen some stuff, before, working in the ER when he was with Jocelyn. But it had been nothing like the hellfire that had rained down on them during the fall of Vulcan and the battle with Nero. Leonard had felt a draw back to sickbay, some sick part of him convinced that when he got there, the respite will all be a dream and he'll be back with those half burned, half bloodied bodies that he had to fight so hard to save, and he had just hung in there, thinking if I can just save this one, if I can just save this one...

 

So he's not in the best place mentally to deal with whoever is crying in his sickbay. Still, he's not totally heartless, so he trudges over to where the sound is coming from. Hiding curled up to the side of one of the beds was an ensign, the pilot who had somehow gotten the teleporter to work and saved Jim from being a stain on Vulcans crust. What was his name? Aw, hell, all that mattered was that the kid was too damn young for this whole FUBAR situation.

 

Leonard didn't bother saying anything, just sat right down next to the poor kid, making the kid jump; he clearly hadn't seen him coming up. The kid began furiously wiping his eyes, angling his body away like he could stop Leonard from seeing his puffy, tearstained face. The kid looked like shit, really.

 

"is there something I can do for you, doktor?" the kid asked, Russian accent, putting on face that was something close to cheerful, if cheerful looked like it got beaten with a stick and was expecting to get hit again any second.

 

"Don't worry about me kid." Leonard grunted, looking forward, slouched down. Damn, he was too old to be sitting on the floor. But he sat there, not saying anything, not doing anything either. The kid did his best to keep in his sniffles, but he'd clearly been crying long enough that it was sniffle or end up with a face covered in snot.

 

After a while, the kid asked, voice a little steadier then before, "what are you doing here, doktor?"

 

"Could ask you the same question. Or do you always skulk around starship sickbays in your down time?" that came out a little more acerbic then Leonard really intended, and Leonard inwardly sighed. He was not equipped to deal with real people's emotions anymore.

 

"I- I don't know; I couldn't look at the others, not after-" the kid bit his lip, looking away.

 

And Leonard got it.

 

"Yeah. This whole thing was all kinds of terrible. But that doesn't mean you should hang around this deathtrap."

 

"You're here." the kid pointed out, a tad defensively. Leonard snorted.

 

"That I am. Shows you the kind of masochist I am." he turned a sardonic smile towards the kid- Chekov! That's the kids' name. Chekov let out a wet laugh.

 

"Perhaps, Doktor. But maybe we are all masochists here." Chekov said, smile tugging at his lips. But it was short lived, a haunted look going over his eyes, like Leonard had seen one too many times on ER doctors. "I couldn't save her."

 

"Save who?"

 

"Commander Spock's mother. She- she slipped right through my fingers. Like that." Chekov gestured like he was trying to catch water in his hands, then opened his fingers lie he was letting it run through. His hands were shaking.

 

"Aw hell kid. You can't blame yourself for that. You saved a whole heap of people today, Spock included. twice." this didn't seem to make Chekov feel better, the kid just shaking his head. Leonard sighed.

 

"Listen. I'm a doctor. My whole business is saving people who ain't got a chance of being saved. And sometimes there are good days, and everyone lives. But not every day is like that. Sometimes, there are days that are awful, the worst you've ever seen; only the universe is just out there waiting to drop a worse day on you."

 

"How do you stand it?" Chekov said, barely above a whisper, and Leonard shrugged.

 

"Mostly? I work. When I'm not working I drink, when I'm not drinking I'm studying more medicine for the next time I work. And sometimes, I talk to Jim. I'm not exactly the healthiest of role models."

 

"I cannot tell if you think this is supposed to be helpful to me or not." Chekov pointed out.

 

"I'm not telling you to do what I do. In fact, I'm saying it now; don't do that. Damnit, I'm not a motivational speaker here, and no one has ever accused me of being anything but a shriveled up ol' fool. But you've got to realize that there's more to life than those bad days. And the people around you, they help. I've got Jim, sometimes, when he's not chasing tail. Who have you got?"

 

"I haven't seen my family since I joined Starfleet four years ago. And I do not make friends easily." Leonard read that loud and clear; nobody. He held out his hand, and Chekov stared at it blankly. Leonard sighed; he was too old for this shit.

 

"Give me your phone." Chekov blinked, but quickly moved to do what he was told. Before he could think better of it, Leonard quickly entered his number, and handed it back. Chekov stared at the phone and the new contact like his name was written in freaking Urdu. "From now on you've got me. I may just be an old country doctor, but I doubt the brass will want to pull apart one of their few crew left, so we'll be seeing more of each other. If I'm not working, which to be fair, I work a lot, I'll answer. Leave a message, and I'll answer on a break, even."

 

"...you are really nice man, aren't you?"

 

"Don't go telling anybody. I've got a reputation to protect." that got a laugh out of the kid, and Leonard found himself smiling too. Suddenly the sickbay wasn't as bad; it was just a sickbay, like any other. He could do this; leave the ghost of this awful day behind him, if only a little. And maybe, just maybe, he could take this Russian whiz kid away from that darkness too.

 

\------

 

The next time Leonard sees Chekov, or even thinks about him in more than passing, is a couple days before they launch the enterprise again. Chekov texts him, and Leonard gets it the end of a shift at the hospital.

 

_Can I see you, please? If not, that is okay._

 

Leonard could practically hear the kid trying to be as unobtrusive as possible, remembers those hiccupping sobs.

 

_Where do you want to meet?_

 

There's only a moments hesitation before Chekov replies, a place on campus that Leonard was familiar enough with. It was dark outside, the campus quiet; at night, he could almost convince himself it was because everyone was just sleeping, instead of most everybody in his graduating class being dead.

 

Leonard and Jim have an apartment off campus; he can't imagine living in this graveyard.

 

He spots Chekov by the fountain, sitting on the edge and looking into the water, unseeing. Like last time, Leonard sat down next to him, not saying anything, waiting for Chekov to be ready to talk.

 

"I am scared." Chekov admits, finally. Leonard snorts.

 

"Then you are paying attention, kid." Leonard says. Chekov flinches, and yeah, maybe that was a little too harsh. But space is a whole mess of things that could kill you, and as a doctor and a sane person Leonard isn't going to sugar coat that shit and call it candy. Leonard sighs, wondering how he can do damage control. Chekov mutters something lowly though, so instead Leonard asks "what was that?"

 

"I said I am not 'kid'." Chekov says, looking at Leonard defiantly. And boy, did he have blue eyes. Leonard is pretty sure this is the first time they actually made eye contact, so it isn't that surprising he didn't notice before. It made Leonard feel weird.

 

"Also," Chekov added, "you are definitely not motivational speaker."

 

That made Leonard laugh.

 

"Yeah, I know, Chekov." he said, using the right name this time. Chekov looks a little surprised he actually knew the name. Leonard inwardly shrugged. He had a good memory, had to to be a doctor of any use to anybody. "Look. Why are you in Starfleet?"

 

Chekov was quiet for a moment.

 

"Honestly? My family could use the money from my commission." Chekov admitted, and it was Leonard's turn to be surprised.

 

"I thought for sure it was because of that big brain of yours." Leonard said, and it's hard to tell in the dark but he thinks Chekov is blushing.

 

"Да, I mean, yes, that is part of it. In the beginning, I was so happy to finally have something to do with all the ideas in my head, to have someplace where I could just learn, endlessly. I was offered to graduate in 3 years instead of 4, but stayed to do extra coursework. I've completed all but one of the high level scientific coursework that they offer, though."

 

And boy would that make Jim happy, Leonard thought dryly.

 

"So you like to learn. Gotta say, you're going to run out of things to study, down here, especially with one class left to you. Out in space though, there will always be something new to learn. It might be awful, but it'll be there." Leonard pointed out. "Also, when you're not working your main job, we could probably get Scotty to apprentice you down in engineering, give you something extra to learn."

 

"You are trying to sway me with science." Chekov said, hesitantly, but Leonard is pretty sure there is the start of something hopeful in his eyes.

 

"I'm not trying to do anything. It's your choice. If you think you can't do it-"

 

"I can do it!" Chekov interrupted, indignant.

 

"I don't mean ability wise, lord knows you're overqualified; I mean psychologically. If it's going to send you into a nervous breakdown, being on that ship, you need to consider this isn't the job for you. There are ground jobs, in Starfleet." Leonard said. Chekov was silent for a while, and they just sat there, the water trickling down behind them, the lamps on campus shining down in patches.

 

"How do I know I won't fail again?" Chekov whispered. Leonard's old heart went out to the kid. He put a hand on the kid's shoulder.

 

"You don't. You do the best with what you have, and hope it will be enough. I will tell you one thing though; I have aviaphobia, but I'll feel safer with you there." and Leonard realized it was true; a kid as smart as Chekov would ease a lot of Leonard's fears. Their eyes met again. Chekov nodded, his jaw set stubbornly.

 

"Then I will try."

 

\-----

 

As it happens, Leonard is near the unloading zone while people are coming up, making sure everyone has their vaccination papers and hypoing them viciously if they don't, and he happens to see Chekov coming in. Chekov nodded with a smile, rummaging through his bag while Leonard berated some idiot for not getting the vaccine for Altarian encephalitis like he was supposed to. When he was done with the moron, Chekov came forward, showing his papers.

 

"This is like customs coming to America. I feel as if I must declare my intentions or something." Chekov said while Leonard looked over his papers, and Leonard has to chuckle. The guy he had just been yelling at looks at him and Chekov with wide eyes. Leonard glared at him, and he went running. Chekov snorted.

 

"What's so funny?" Leonard grumbled, handing the papers back, grabbing his tricorder and giving Chekov a once over with it.

 

"Nothing. I just forget not everyone knows your secret." Chekov said. Leonard refused to smile.

 

_...you are really nice man, aren't you?_

 

"Damn right. Now get out of here, I've got to yell at these fools and make sure nobody is bringing Andorian shingles or something on board."

 

Chekov gave him a mock salute, smiling as he walked backwards. "Aye aye, doktor."

 

Leonard grumbled, but found himself smiling anyway.

 

\-----

 

Leonard doesn't see much of Chekov for the first month. he'd set Chekov up with engineering before takeoff, and between that, Chekov's time on the bridge, and Leonard's frequent double shifts in sickbay, they really had completely different schedules. sure, they nodded at each other when Leonard was on the bridge (usually to yell at Jim), and occasionally Leonard would see Chekov in the mess handing out with a pilot that often shared his work shift, the one that went down to the platform on Vulcan with Jim. But other than that, they might as well have been strangers.

 

But of course, everyone came to the sickbay eventually.

 

"Why in the hell would you step in front of someone who had developed psychic powers? And you already knew was abusing them? Are you out of your Russian mind?"

 

"It seemed like a good idea at the time." Chekov shrugs nonchalantly. It makes Leonard scowl harder.

 

Chekov winces as Leonard pulls the bandage a little tighter than strictly necessary. Leonard loosens it immediately, but still grumbles "that's what you get."

 

He does the rest of the bandage gently, tying it off expertly. He turns around to put the bandage roll away.

 

"Why do we never see each other, Doktor?"Chekov asks.

 

"We're busy. I'm pretty sure we're both workaholics, even though I told you specifically not to be." Leonard said, turning back around and using the tricorder on Chekov. He had already done then, but it never hurt to be thorough.

 

"You said not to alternate working, drinking, and spending time with the captain. I am not doing that." Chekov says with mock innocence, eyes wide, and Leonard rolls his eyes.

 

"You're so cheeky. When'd you get so damn cheeky?" Leonard said, putting down the tricorder and putting his hands on his hips.

 

"I have always been 'cheeky.' you just have never seen me at my best." Chekov replied. Leonard snorted.

 

"Of course. Well, you better get back to work kid-Chekov." Leonard said, catching himself.

 

"You can call me Pavel, or Pasha, doktor. My- my friends do." Chekov said, looking shy.

 

"Then you can call me Leonard. Or, Len, if that's too long for you. Just not bones, please, I get enough of that from the captain. And you're free to go, Pavel." Leonard said. Chekov gave him a 1000 megawatt smile. Leonard's insides twisted; did he forget to eat lunch again?

 

"Very well, Len." Chekov said, his accent thick. He hopped down from the bed, stretching. Leonard looked away. "I will see you another time. We should try to get together. It would be good for us."

 

Somehow, that seemed like a bad idea.

 

"Maybe. I'll see you around, Chekov." Leonard said.

 

"Pavel." Pavel corrected. Leonard sighed.

 

"Pavel." Leonard said. It felt a little too good on his tongue. Pavel grinned. Leonard scowled. "Now get out of here."

 

"Aye aye, Len." Pavel said, and then left.

 

Leonard stood there for a moment watching Pavel go, before shaking himself. Back to work.

 

\-----

 

Things conspire so they don't really talk after that, either. not until a couple weeks later, after Leonard's Ex turned out to be a salt sucking monster, when Pavel corners him in sickbay and drags him down to mess to sit with him and the pilot, who Pavel introduces as "Hikaru- I mean, Sulu."

 

Pavel talks about the space anomaly they saw on the bridge, Sulu firing back comments quick as you please, until Pavel finally devolves into Russian in the middle of explaining the science behind the anomaly, and is just as surprised as Pavel is when Sulu coughs.

 

"Can't understand a word, Pasha." Sulu says, and Leonard recognizes he was smiling just in time for it to turn into a scowl. But Sulu is smiling winningly, clearly didn't mean it in a mean way, so Leonard lets it slide.

 

"Прости, I mean, sorry. I get a little carried away sometimes, I know."

 

"It's perfectly alright darlin', having something you care about is good for the soul." Leonard says, accent unintentionally thick, only to realize he got a little too southern there when Pavel blushes, probably at the 'darlin'.'

 

"Yeah Pasha, it's fine. I get like that about the botany lab. Like the other day, I was examining a plant from PX9, and I..." Leonard tuned him out, after that. He could really care less about plants, unless they happened to have some medicinal property. But sitting at that table, a seat away from Pavel, he felt like he was exactly where he was meant to be.

 

\-----

 

"He hates me bones." Jim moaned, crumpled up in one of the chairs in Leonard's office, nursing his 3rd drink. "He questions all my orders; he ignores my offers to play chess-"

 

"Because you beat him repeatedly. He's a sore loser." Leonard interrupts. Jim waves his arm like he's swatting a fly.

 

"Vulcan's aren't sore losers, bones. I know, I've played chess with his older self, he's nothing if not patient."

 

"And that's another thing. Don't you think it's a little weird that you talk to hobgoblin the elder more than your own first officer?" Leonard points out.

 

"He doesn't want to talk, bones, that's what I'm telling you." Jim all but whines. Leonard sighs.

 

"I just think you're being an idiot. He'll come around, or he won't. You're acting like a schoolgirl with a crush, stop it. Here, have another drink." Leonard says, topping off Jim's glass.

 

"We're supposed to have some epic friendship, bones. Something that 'defines us both'. That's not being an idiot, that's _fact_. So why doesn't he want to be around me?" and Jim looks genuinely crushed at this. Leonard walks over, puts a hand on his friends shoulder.

 

"You aren't the only one in his life this time Jim. Give it time. It may not be everything you want it to be, but I'm sure you guys will have something." Leonard says, as gently as he can manage.

 

"Alright, I guess." Jim mumbles. They drink in quiet for a while before Jim sits up like he had an idea. He leans forward, grinning slyly at Leonard. "So... Is there anyone you've had an eye on?"

 

Leonard sits back in his chair, takes a drink. Specifically does not think of curly hair and blue eyes. Doesn't think about how Pavel has started visiting sickbay at the end of his shift on the bridge, just to say hi.

 

"Nope. No one."

 

\-----

 

By the time Pavel gets to him after the Psi 2000 virus starts affecting the crew, Leonard has already taken precautions not to get infected, so when Pavel hugs him around the middle and starts murmuring things in Russian, Leonard isn't affected. If it takes him longer than it strictly should have to untangle himself from Pavel and go find Jim to give him the antidote, nobody had to know but him.

 

\-----

 

He doesn't see Pavel for a while after that, not even a quick visit or a nod in the hallways. In fact, one time when he saw Leonard Pavel all but ran in the opposite direction.

 

Leonard reminded himself that it didn't matter anyway; he was just a dirty old man who spent a little too much time with a kid. Pavel was right to push him away.

 

When Mudd comes with his three female passengers, they flirt with him like everybody else, and like everybody else; he's affected by the Venus drug that they find out about later. What it doesn't explain is why when Leonard talks about them with Jim on the bridge, Pavel flashes him a hurt look.

 

\-----

 

After a month of frosty reception from Pavel, Leonard's watching Pavel talking to some yeomen while Leonard hung back, knowing Pavel hadn't seen him yet or he would clam up. It had been somehow worse since he got back from the planet with Miri (where you almost died, his mind supplied gleefully), Pavel not running anymore but still only acknowledging him with a terse, "Doktor."

 

"He's cute." Sulu says, sidling up beside Leonard. Leonard scowls; he knows that already.

 

"He's 17." Leonard points out; whether it's directed at Sulu or himself, he can't be sure.

 

"Not for forever." when Leonard glares at Sulu, the pilot breaks into helpless laughter. When he finally calms down, he says "dude, I'm married. Very happily so."

 

"oh." is all Leonard can say, and Sulu chuckles.

 

"Yeah. We should exchange pictures of our daughters sometime; I would be nice to be around another dad." Sulu says,

 

"I'd like that." Leonard admits; it's been a while since anyone cared. Sulu nodded, patting Leonard on the back and moving away.

 

"And I meant it; he's not going to be 17 forever." Sulu said over his shoulder as he walked away, "so maybe get your ass in gear."

 

\------

 

The thing with Khan is awful. Jim dying is awful. Pavel visits him in sickbay while he watches over Jim; Leonard had finally made Spock go home for the day. Fat lot of good it was going to do, the pointy eared bastard would be back by 08:00 hour tomorrow, sharp.

 

They didn't say anything, not for a long time.

 

"How was engineering?" Leonard finally asks. His voice is a little hoarse, a mixture of not talking interspersed with yelling at people. Pavel laughs, and there's a tinge of hysteria to it.

 

"Oh, you know. Uneventful. I will be glad to be back on the bridge." Pavel says, and Leonard nods. He doesn't take his eyes off of Jim. Jim, who had died. One of the few people he had ever let into his heart, and he had just sacrificed himself like a moron.

 

"It's 16 in Russia, by the way." Pavel says. Leonard hmms a question.

 

"The age of consent. It's 16 in Russia." that has Leonard looking at Pavel, eyebrows raised incredulously.

 

"Oh, I'm sorry; do you not hate me now?" Leonard says, putting as much of... the feeling that had come from Pavel ignoring him, into it. Hurt. Self doubt. Unhappiness.

 

Pavel rolled his eyes.

 

"I didn't realize you didn't know. I thought you were, Как вы это говорите по-английски, not interested. But Sulu said-" Pavel began. And suddenly Leonard knew, with perfect clarity, what he had to do.

 

"Sulu's wrong." _I'd be horrible for you._ "I'm not interested." _I can't have someone else die on me._ "We're just too different." _you're too damn young._

 

There's a long moment of silence. Leonard didn't look at Pavel, focusing on Jim's chart.

 

"I was wrong." Pavel says finally, voice shaking. "You are not a nice man."

 

And then he's gone.

 

\-----

 

Pavel - no, Chekov - turns 18. He starts dating a yeoman, Landon. She's pretty, and close to Chekov's age. They suit each other. Leonard takes the day off and drinks until he can't see straight anymore, than sleeps and sleeps and sleeps.

 

\-----

 

They spend three damn years in space.

 

\-----

 

After the battle of Yorktown, they're stuck on the snowball for six months. Leonard tries to get Jocelyn to take Joanna up for a visit, but Joanna was busy; recitals, lessons, practice, a summer camp. Jocelyn discouraged him coming to earth.

 

so Leonard, who has been politely turned away from the Yorktown hospital (not needing any more doctors his ass, everywhere needed more doctors, it was a universal constant, only trumped by the need for more nurses), is stuck with his thumb up his ass.

 

Jim and Spock are spending a truly ludicrous amount of time together, and Nyota is spending time with Scotty on the _Enterprise_ , and maybe those four have gotten their act together and figured out who's batshit crazy about them.

 

And with no work, and no Jim, and no _Enterprise_ , Leonard has all the time in the world to think.

 

It doesn't go so well for him.

 

So about a month in, he makes a plan; he was going to pull an old school Kirk. He was going to go to a club. He was going to pick someone up. And they were going to have wild monkey sex, or whatever Kirk did with them. Play chess? Anyway, he had his temporary apartment and walked to the club not too far away.

 

He feels awkward, even before he stepped in. he's wearing worn jeans, one of the uniforms black undershirts, boots that are probably a little too old and a little too country. He didn't even want to get started thinking what his hair looked like.

 

But still, Leonard H. McCoy was no quitter, and so into the club he went. It's loud, obnoxiously so, and the lights are strobing slowly in a way he's sure has caused at least one person to go into shock. He weaves through to the bar first, single-mindedly, and makes it through two shots of bourbon before he even bothers to look around.

 

He instantly regrets this, because there's Chekov, in the middle of the dance floor with light on him like he's some sort of- something... dancing with some stranger. Multiple strangers, actually. Leonard looks on incredulously for a moment, and then before his brain can kick in, he's across the floor, grabbing Chekov by the arm and dragging him to a corner booth, where it seems the quietist by a truly tiny margin.

 

"What are you doing?!" Leonard yells, looking town at the no-longer-teen. "Where the hell is your girlfriend?"

 

Chekov's defiant look breaks for a look of understanding, then turns to something sly.

 

"We broke up." Chekov half yells to be heard over the music.

 

"Oh." Leonard says, blinks. He's probably turning red, and there's not a damn thing he can do to stop it. He remembered hearing something like that before the whole thing with Krall, but he had put it aside as idle gossip; people said people were breaking up or getting together all the time. He, personally, had been paired off with all the female members of the Enterprise (no males, sans Jim; which showed what they knew).

 

"Yeah." Chekov says, smirking. "Do you want to let go of my arm, doktor?"

 

Leonard belatedly realizes he's still holding on to Chekov, letting go like he's been burned. his brain tell him exactly what he had looked like, swooping in on Chekov, dragging him away like a jealous lover.

 

"Sorry. I'll let you get back to it." Leonard half yells, trying to decide whether he was going to drink himself blind at the bar or run home with his tail between his legs. Before he can decide, Chekov has looped an arm through his, still smirking.

 

"Come dance with me." he says, close to Leonard's ear so he can hear it. Leonard shakes his head. Chekov chuckles. "Come on. You own me for that bottle in my locker."

 

And well, Leonard can't argue with that. Can't even explain why he took the damn thing in the first place, besides Chekov leaving his locker unlocked. Which, really, is a terrible reason.

 

He allows himself to be pulled to the dance floor as one 'song' ends and another 'song' begins. Chekov picks up the beat easily, but Leonard is too tense, can't move himself properly. He feels a tap on his shoulder, looking back to see one of the people who had been dancing with Chekov.

 

"Hey. Mind if I cut in?" Ze asks, and Leonard can't help it; he scowls.

 

"Yeah, I do mind." Leonard says, and moves closer to Chekov. The other guy scoffs; Chekov puts his arms around Leonard's neck. Leonard puts his hands on Chekov's waist, and Chekov shifts to a slower pace, something Leonard can keep up with. It's a little too close and a little too intimate, but no one else taps on Leonard's shoulder.

 

After the song, Chekov heads for the bar, and Leonard meekly follows behind. He does not stare at Chekov's ass; he glances. Chekov is in leather pants. Leonard's mouth is dry.

 

Chekov calls for a Cardassian sunrise, while Leonard puts in for two shots of tequila. Chekov grins, switches his order to tequila too. Leonard raises an eyebrow.

 

"Do you really want to play this game? I've been drinking a long time and I know how to hold it pretty damn well."

 

"I am Russian. Alcohol was invented in Russia." Chekov says, and then their drinks arrive.

 

\-----

 

After about the 7th round, things start to get a little fuzzy. At 10, Pavel is ranting happily in Russian, and Leonard is smiling stupidly at him, somehow still steady hand on Pavel's back to make sure he stays up on his stool.

 

"Did you eat something before you came darlin'?" Leonard says in Chekov's ear. Chekov giggles.

 

"Yes Doktor. I am wery, wery responsible." Chekov says, schooling his face into mock seriousness before grinning. "Come dance with me."

 

"You and I are in no shape for dancin' sweetheart." Leonard says, and Pavel leans in close, so that they're practically nose to nose.

 

"What are we in shape for?" Pavel asks lowly, and Leonard swallows. This was not what he signed up for tonight. Well, in a way it was, but not with Pavel. Not with someone who he so intrinsically _wants_.

 

Pavel must see the hesitation in Leonard's face, because he says "it doesn't have to mean anything."

 

Well, that decided it. Leonard swiped his card in the reader at the bar, gesturing between himself and Pavel to indicate that he was going to pay for them both.

 

"It would, though." Leonard says. He stands up, nods to Pavel- to Chekov. "Goodnight, kid."

 

He doesn't get much further than down the street when something hits him in the back. Turning wildly, he sees Chekov, both shoes off, one shoe in his hand, looking furious.

 

"Did you just throw your shoe at me?" Leonard asks, incredulously.

 

Pavel curses at him in Russian. Leonard isn't actually sure it's cursing, but judging by the look and Pavel's face, the staccato, angry rhythm, and the fact that he had just had _a shoe thrown at him_ , all pointed towards Leonard being correct.

 

"I don't understand you." Leonard points out, when Pavel winds down. Pavel scowled at him.

 

"You don't understand when I speak English at you, Мудак. I have tried very hard to forget you, but you are always there, looking so good and speaking in your perfect accent, and caring about people and _flirting with girls_. And now you drink with me, dance with me, talk to me, call me sweetheart and darling, but still you want nothing to do with me. Будь ты проклят!" Pavel says bitterly, throwing the other shoe at Leonard, though this time he ducks.

 

"Pavel-"

 

"Oh, I'm sorry; do you not hate me now?" Pavel yells, and damn, he's going to wake up the whole neighborhood. With that in mind, Leonard moves closer to Pavel.

 

"Pavel, I'm sorry. I was an asshole. I'm still an asshole. That's kind of the point."  Leonard says.

 

"What is the point?" asks Pavel, crossing his arms over his chest. At least he's quieter now.

 

"That I'm an asshole. And you're not. You deserve a nice boy- or girl- who will take care of you, who will-"

 

"You take care of me. Or you used to, before this whole mess. And maybe I like that you're an asshole, ever think off that Мудак?" Pavel said stubbornly. Leonard groans. Pavel stands his ground, though. "What other issues do you have with us being together? Go on, make a list, I am waiting."

 

"You..." Leonard was too damn drunk for this conversation, his head providing him only with things like, you're too beautiful, and I suck.

 

"I'm a divorcee." he comes up with. Pavel scoffs.

 

"What, that makes you damaged goods? Next." Pavel says, taking a step closer.

 

"I'm older than you." Leonard says.

 

"Spock's mother and father were separated by 20 years, and they were happy. 14 is not so much." Pavel says triumphantly, stepping closer.

 

"Damnit Pavel, what do you want from me?" Leonard finally snaps. They're close now, practically breathing each others' air, and damn, Leonard has never been more crazy about Pavel then this moment, right here.

 

"You, идиот. I want you." Pavel says, quietly, searching Leonard's eyes for something. And Leonard finally, finally, broke.

 

The kiss was hungry and sloppy, both parties mostly drunk off their asses but still very, very invested. There was teeth and tongue, and Pavel was disconcertingly good at this. Eventually they broke apart, leaning their foreheads against each other.

 

"You are dumbest smart man I have ever met." Pavel grumbles. Leonard huffs a laugh.

 

"Yeah, I guess I am."

 

\-----

 

by the time they get back on the enterprise, word has gotten around; the command teams has paired off, Spock with Kirk, Uhura with Scotty, and most surprisingly, the irascible Dr. McCoy with the easy going Mr. Chekov. Most people give it a week.

 

 They beat that estimate by forever.


End file.
